Learn to eat better: 9 essential habits to start the year
End of the year Celebrations are an opportunity to share a good time with your family and/or your friends over a good meal. Whoever you are, your diet during the holiday season will be an essential element to start this new year. To Start on a right foot, eat better. Why do you need to eat better? Quite simply because having a balanced diet affects everything you do, how you feel, your mood, your concentration. Here you can find, some essential habits to begin the year on a good basis.
Enjoy yourself, don’t eat less, but better!
Every year, you always ask yourself the same questions: what to eat for the holidays without taking too much weight and adopt a healthy diet? This annual puzzle can be solved thanks to some advices provided by our dieticians.
1) Don’t fall into the trap of eating nothing until the Christmas dinner
At lunch, the less you eat, the more you will eat in the evening. In the end, you will eat much more than you wanted.
2) The size of the dishes counts!
Portions on every dishe, whether in the restaurant, at home, or during the celebrations dinners, have skyrocketed. This portion increased would have an effect on the rate of obesity.
3) Eat in smaller plates this year
When cooking for Christmas or the new year, serve your recipes in smaller plates: this avoids overeating, the bad element for your body and your digestion.
4) Say yes to good fats
We all need lipids, but some are worse than others. “Saturated fatty acids” are the ones to avoid. Indeed, they are stored too easily and are the cause of cardiovascular disease. Choose “unsaturated fatty acids”: olive oil, nuts, sardines, mackerel, dried fruits (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts), avocado, etc. These “good companions” will help you produce the lipids that your body can not create.
5) Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?
Certainly, in terms of calories, both chocolates are equivalent but dark chocolate is less rich in sugar. However, it is richer in cocoa butter, so fatter. But if you consume dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate, you will also get vitamin D and iron.
6) Eat spicy
Indeed, eating spicy satiates you faster for a smaller quantity. In addition to this, it can protect you from gastric problems for this period rich in heavy food that hurts your stomach. Filled in calcium and vitamin A and C, it also protects, cardiovascular disease, cholesterol accumulation, stimulates metabolism by burning fat.
7) Eat more slowly
The important thing is to stay focused on what you eat. Don’t be distracted by TV or other distractors. Plus, you will be focused on what you eat, the more you will chew slowly, you will take your time and therefore you will digest better.
8) Salt or not salt?
Although there is excessive salt consumption in Belgium, the amount not to exceed is 6g of salt per day. In addition to the health problems (blood pressure, infarction, kidney failure, etc.) that salt causes, you will feel bloated during your holiday meals. Noted that consuming too much salt is a matter of habit and that basic, most prepared foods contain it. So, say yes for salt for the holidays but in moderation. Change your habits, why not prepare your dishes by replacing salt with spices and herbs?
9) Drinking coffee after alcohol, will not help you digest
Consume coffee, after drinking alcohol, doesn’t diminish its effects, on the contrary. It makes the acid rise and therefore a hindrance to digestion.
Who eats better, throws less …
Big plus: if you respect all these rules, you will become less wasteful! On the one hand because you will pay more attention to what you will eat. On the other hand, your vision of consumption will change. Thus, you will become warned, alert, moderate on your way of eating. Finally, simply, you will know better yourself (your habits, the benefits of this or that food on your own body, …) so all that you buy, you know, in principle, that you will eat it. The 2017-2018 holiday period will be the most ecofriendly celebration than ever.
Of course, these are general advice. It is obvious that your nutrition depends on a complete diagnosis made by the dietician-nutritionist for greater effectiveness. Each metabolism regulates differently, your eating habits and backgrounds also are to be considerate. Anticipate the post-holiday period and make an appointment now at the closest dietitian-nutritionist.
By Alicia P. from doctoranytime.be team
